sure it does. its an apex predator. they keep the vermin population down and thin weak and sickly of other animal populations. without them we would be swimming in raccoons, opossums, rats, rabbits, catfish, and other annoyance animals that spread rabies. we need those guys, just like we need sharks.

sure it does. its an apex predator. they keep the vermin population down and thin weak and sickly of other animal populations. without them we would be swimming in raccoons, opossums, rats, rabbits, catfish, and other annoyance animals that spread rabies. we need those guys, just like we need sharks.

When young, alligators eat fish, insects, snails, crustaceans, and worms. As they mature, progressively larger prey is taken, including larger fish such as gar, turtles, and various mammals, particularly coypu and muskrat, as well as birds, deer, and other reptiles. Their stomachs also often contain gizzard stones.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator

if it moves and gets close enough they eat it. dogs, little kids too. they are opportunistic and they like their meat decayed. they will kill something and drag it under the water to stuff it into a crevice below the surface. after a few days when it has "marinated" then they eat it. reptiles are like that: not much thought goes into their feeding. i think they eat on instinct alone.